AFRICA

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Gambia’s president once said he would govern the country for a billion years if God willed it. But voters may deliver an upset Thursday after years of economic hardship that have pushed thousands of young people to attempt the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. Yahya …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African President Jacob Zuma survived an attempt to oust him from office only after a “robust” and “difficult” debate within the ruling ANC party, an official said Tuesday. Zuma has been weakened by corruption allegations, but his supporters were taken by surprise at …

KIGALI, Rwanda | AFP | Rwanda on Tuesday opened a formal probe into 20 French officials suspected of playing a role in the 1994 genocide, in a move likely to further sour diplomatic ties with France. Kigali has long accused France of complicity in the genocide of some 800,000 mostly …

The trial in the case of Dominic Ongwen, a top commander of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army,  is scheduled to open at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday, December 6 – 2016. The Prosecutor versus Ongwen case will be before Trial Chamber IX of the ICC, composed of presiding Judge …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A top advisor to Burundi’s president and the most public face of the government, Willy Nyamitwe, has escaped an assassination attempt in the capital Bujumbura which left one of his bodyguards dead, officials said Tuesday. “Thank God, Willy Nyamitwe narrowly escaped an attack…” tweeted Burundi’s …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP |  Nearly half the population of strife-torn Central African Republic needs humanitarian assistance, the UN said Monday, appealing for $399 million from donors to cover the country’s aid needs next year. UN humanitarian coordinator for Central Africa, Fabrizio Hochschild, told reporters that decades of chronic poverty, …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP |  A public television station in Morocco has apologised after uproar on social media followed its broadcast of an item on makeup to hide the facial bruises of battered women. The sequence — marking last week’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP | The death toll has risen to 62 from weekend clashes in a traditional kingdom in western Uganda, which pitted security forces against royal guards accused of belonging to a separatist militia, police said Monday. The streets of the western town of Kasese were empty a …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP |  Controversial moves to extend Congolese President Laurent Kabila’s stay in power appeared to advance Sunday as a close ally said elections would not be held until April 2018, 16 months after Kabila was due to leave office. Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda also warned that the …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP |  Volkswagen on Sunday signed a deal with its Algerian sales partner Sovac for the construction of a vehicle assembly plant in the North African country, officials told a news conference. Under the deal, worth $170 million (160 million euros), the plant will produce its first …